Holder to facilitate cleaning glass plates for photographic slides



R. H. LYNAM Sept 1958 HOLDER TO FACILITATE CLEANING GLASS 2,849,744

PLATES FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC SLIDES, Filed May 17, 1.954

RICHARD H. LVN/1M,

INVENTOR.

A 7' TORNEK 3 ing operation. The rectangle defined by the rim shoulders 20 may be, for example, approximately 3% inches by 4 inches to correspond to a standard glass plate of that size used for relatively large slides.

The top wall 15 of the base structure may be provided with a transverse groove 23 to removably seat a second shoulder means in the form of a rib 24. The rib 24 provides an upstanding shoulder 25 which co-operates with the rim shoulders 20 to form a second rectangle on the support surface 16 within the area of the larger rectangle. This second rectangle is approximately 3% inches by 3% inches for the confinement of a glass plate of that size for use in making slides for 2% x 2% inch transparencies.

Within the area of this second 3% by 3% inch rectangle, the top wall of the base structure has an angular groove 26 to removably seat an angular rib 27. The upstanding shoulders 28 of the angular rib 27 co-operate with the one rim shoulder to define a third rectangle 2 inches by 2 inches within the area of the 3% inch by 3% inch rectangle. This third rectangle corresponds to the size of glass plates used for making slides with mm. transparencies.

In this embodiment of the invention, it is contemplated that suitable means will be provided within the area of the 2 inch by 2 inch rectangle to lift glass plates on the top support surface of the base structure. In the present embodiment of the invention, as best shown in Figures 3 and 4, the lifting means may comprise an upright pin 30 that is slidingly mounted in a vertical bore 31 in the top wall 15 of the base structure. The bottom end of the pin 30 has a head 32 that serves as a stop to limit the upward lifting movement of the pin. When the pin 30 is shifted upward from the position shown in Figure 3 to the position shown in Figure 4, the upper end of the pin passes through the plane of thesupport surface 16 to lift a glass plate from the support surface. Since the lifting pin 30 is within the area of the 2 inch by 2 inch rectangle and therefore within the area of the two larger rectangles also, it is apparent that the lift pin 30 will act on a glass plate of any one of the three sizes.

Any suitable manually operable means may be provided to cause the desired upward shift of the lift pin 30. In the present embodiment of the invention, a lever 36 is mounted by a pivot pin 37 on an inner integral wing 38 of the base structure. The lever 38, which may be made of sheet metal, extends through a slot 39 in the front wall 14 of the base structure and is formed with an external handle portion 40. The inner end of the lever 36 extends under the lift pin 30 so that downward finger pressure on the handle portion 40 of the lever will cause the lift pin to be moved upward. Normally, the lever 36 is at an ineffective limit position against the upper end of the slot 39 as shown in Figure 3, to hold the lift pin 30 in a down position with the upper end of the lift pin just below the plane of the support surface 16.

The manner in which the described device serves its purpose may be readily understood from the foregoing description. To clean a 2 inch by 2 inch glass plate designated P in Figure 1, for example, the angular rib 27 will be seated in the angular groove 26, and the glass plate P that is to be cleaned will be dropped onto the support surface of the base structure in position to be confined by the angular rib 26. The operator then uses one hand to clean the upper exposed face of the glass plate, the other hand being used to hold the base structure steady.

When the exposed surface of the glass plate has been thoroughly cleaned and polished, the user applies finger pressure to the handle portion 40 of the lever 36 in the manner shown in Figure 1 to cause upward movement of the lift pin 30. As a consequence, the lift pin 30 lifts one end of the glass plate P above the level of the angular rib 27 to permit the user to grasp the plate by its opposite edges. The user then releases the handle portion 40 of the lever and handling the glass plate only by its edges, replaces the glass plate on the support surface 16 of the base structure with the second face of the plate uppermost. The user then cleans the second face in the same manner as the first face, and again depresses the handle portion 40 of the lever to lift the plate P upward from the support surface for removal from the base structure.

It is apparent that the device makes it extremely easy for the user to clean and polish both sides of a glass plate without handling the plate in any manner except by grasping the edges of the plate. Thus, it is a simple matter to clean a batch of glass plates rapidly without smudging the clean surfaces.

To clean glass plates of the intermediate size, the angular rib 27 is removed from the angular groove 26, and the rib 24 is seated in the transverse groove 23 to receive the 3% inch by 3% inch plate. On the other hand if a plate of the largest size is to be cleaned, the straight rib 24 will be removed from the groove 23 to permit the larger plate to be confined by the upstanding shoulders 20 of the rectangular rim '19. Thus, the device will handle glass plates of three different sizes and the lift pin 30 will act on plates of all three sizes in the same manner.

My description in specific detail of a selected embodiment of the invention by way of example and to illustrate two principles involved, will suggest various changes, substitutions and other departures from my disclosure that properly lie within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device of the character described to facilitate the cleaning of the faces of transparent plates of different sizes in preparation for assembling photographic slides, said device having: a base structure having a wall portion providing a surface for facewisely receiving and supporting a plate with one of the faces of the plate uppermost for cleaning; a first means on said base structure for engagement With the edges of a relatively large plate on said support surface to confine the relatively large plate against movement; a second means movable into and out of an effective position Within the area defined by said first means for engagement with the side edges of a relatively small plate on said support surface to confine the small plate against lateral movement; and manually operable means within the area defined by said second confining means movable from a normal retracted position below said support surface to an effective position extending above said support surface to lift either a relatively small plate out of engagement with said first confining means or a relatively large plate out of engagement with said second confining means to permit the plate to be grasped by its side edges for removal from the base structure.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which said base structure has a third means for engagement with the side edges of a still larger plate on said support surface; and in which said first confining means is movable out of its efiective position to permit such a still larger plate to rest on said support surface.

3. A holder to facilitate the cleaning of the two faces of a rectangular transparent plate in preparation for use of the plate for a slide, said holder comprising: a hollow structure small enough to be held in the hand and presenting an upwardly facing planar surface on its upper side for facewisely receiving and supporting a plate to be cleaned in a position where the full area of the plate is freely accessible for a manual rubbing operation; means cooperative with said surface to form therewith a receptacle of a depth substantially equal to the thickness of a plate to be frictionally cleaned and having wall means positioned to engage all four edges of the plate to confine the plate against lateral movement in any direction 5 6 in response to rubbing friction; a member normally posistructure with an end portion of the lever outside of the tioned in the hollow portion of said structure below said hollow structure for operation by downward finger pressurface for movement upward through the'plane of said sure to lift the side member upward through said plane. surface to lift the plate from the surface to a position i g side edge? the to be grasped 2 its 5 References Cited in the file of this patent s1 e e ges or remova rom t e ase structure; an an actuating lever fulcrumed in the hollow portion of said UNITED STATES PATENTS structure below said surface to lift said member, said 386,571 Anderson July 24, 1888 actuating lever extending through the wall of the hollow 1,949,708 Coll ns Mar. 6, 1934 

